A year of Italian cooking

[Kevin72]

Ciao! Thanks for the melanzanie recipes...I'll have to give them a go.  I just havent' worked myself up to starting a grill yet...it's too damn hot! Man, if this is June...but I digress..... Since I also have some excellent mint overproducing at the  moment, I'll have to do some experiminting (I couldn't resist the pun....sorry) with mint and eggplant.

Grazie mille!

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Mint and eggplant are a good combo, as are zucchini and mint, and of course the aforementioned artichokes and mint.

Also, you could broil or bake eggplant in place of grilling. Mix some broiled/baked/grilled eggplant with ricotta, a beaten egg, and mint, then roll this mixture into balls and then in breadcrumbs and deep fry. Serve with tomato sauce.

[Kevin72]

I hate to admit that amongst all this tasty-looking Italian food, it's the rhubarb cake I'm itching to make

I'm curious about what the screpelle ‘mbusse were like. I would think soggy crepes in broth would sort of disintegrate, and not be very appealing - am I wrong?

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Hah, I don't blame you on that cake! My mom says that of all the things out there to bring me to my knees . . .

Great observation on the crepes. These are made with far, far more egg than flour, (I think it was like 10 eggs and 1 cup flour)so they're not the traditional "French" (or Northern Italian) crepes you may have had before. They're also much easier to make than the standard crepes. So anyways, they're also a little more firm and do hold up to the broth much better. Finally, you just ladle the broth right over the crepes already in the bowl, no cooking them in the broth, so they don't get much of a chance to fall apart.

[Kevin72]

Good call on the eggplant solt'olio, kellytree!

Thanks for the compliments, Alex!

[Kevin72]

Earlier in the week had an Abruzzese variation on that delicious Italian dish, the Sunday Ragu.

For a Ragu all'Abruzzese, you braise (left to right) pork shoulder, duck legs, and lamb together with roasted peppers, tomato sauce, fennel seeds, and red wine.

Naturally you don't just glop all that extra braising liquid onto the meat, but instead use it to sauce pasta, in this case more of the maccheroni alla chitarra (ma non la chitarra).

For a contorno we had patate all'Abruzzese,

cooked in a similar fashion to patate en teccia when I was doing Friuli: slowly cook mashed potatoes in a pan (this time a cast iron skillet) until a crust forms, then flip. I must admit that for both this and the teccia version, I don't quite "get" the technique. Yes, a crust forms, but it's certainly not enough to keep the dish in one piece so that you can flip it or slide it onto a plate and then invert it back into the pan. I could certainly understand that this would work if there were a couple eggs in there to set the whole thing, but it's just potatoes. So I do it piecemeal, resulting in the mottled look here. In keeping with too many of my meals lately, I have to screw something up, and in this case, I put garlic in raw rather than sauteing it first as the directions stated. So it didn't really have a chance to cook out and there were periodic bites of raw garlic in there.

Edited July 1, 2005 by Kevin72 (log)

[Kevin72]

Last meal in Abruzzo:

Brodetto di pesce alla "Pappa Callen".

For all the coastal regions I've done so far this year, I can't believe that I haven't done one of the many famous regional Italian seafood soups/stews. This was particularly the case in Puglia, though I guess the ciambotta was similar enough. So when I started researching this month's dishes, I decided that a brodetto had to be on the menu somewhere. This is Anna Teresa Callen's father's famous version, which she says everyone in her family and her village wanted a recipe of. Actually, "Callen" may not be her maiden name, so this probably isn't the right title for this dish. At any rate, this one had mussels, scallops, shrimp, and haddock cooked with tomatoes, roasted red peppers, chilies and white wine.

So it's the end of the month and with it comes the usual angst about whether or not I conveyed a fair picture of the cuisine, or dishes I didn't get to make or try. We've already hashed alot of that out above though.

I do regret not having access to cent'erbe, brilliant green Abruzzese digestivo reputedly made with (you guessed it) one hundred herbs. I was even on a hunt for it when we were in Italy this spring but saw it nowhere.

Also, I can't believe the entire month slipped by and I didn't make a single Abruzzese dessert (though that rhubarb cake probably caught everyone's attention more! ). Hopefully the upcoming month will more than make up for that oversight .

[hathor]

For your falling apart potatoes:boil them the night before and let them chill in the refrigerator overnight. They behave better that way!

Thanks Kellytree: great idea...sott'olio! I'm trying the mint idea tonight, and maybe tommorow we'll make the little balls...and the night after that...we'll eat the cucumbers I've been ignoring!

Oh, Abruzzo was fun!! Where we going next??? Are we there yet????

[mrbigjas]

I do regret not having access to cent'erbe, brilliant green Abruzzese digestivo reputedly made with (you guessed it) one hundred herbs.  I was even on a hunt for it when we were in Italy this spring but saw it nowhere. 

you could have substituted green chartrueuse for it and no one would have been the wiser.... they even taste kinda similar.

oh man, too bad you didn't think of it earlier; check it out, there's a recipe here:

http://www.igrass.it/ricette/liquori/centerbe.htm

the same friend who gave me abruzzese saffron gave me a small bottle of centerba and a small bottle of genziana... they're nearly gone now; i wonder if she's going back anytime soon....

centerba is amazing stuff when you overeat. you can feel it burning through the food in your stomach, and afterwards you feel a hundred times better. 70% alcohol, though...

[Kevin72]

For your falling apart potatoes:boil them the night before and let them chill in the refrigerator overnight. They behave better that way!

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That's what I did.

[Kevin72]

you could have substituted green chartrueuse for it and no one would have been the wiser.... they even taste kinda similar.

oh man, too bad you didn't think of it earlier; check it out, there's a recipe here:

http://www.igrass.it/ricette/liquori/centerbe.htm

the same friend who gave me abruzzese saffron gave me a small bottle of centerba and a small bottle of genziana... they're nearly gone now; i wonder if she's going back anytime soon....

centerba is amazing stuff when you overeat.  you can feel it burning through the food in your stomach, and afterwards you feel a hundred times better.  70% alcohol, though...

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That hardly looks like 100 herbs!

What's genziana?

[mrbigjas]

That hardly looks like 100 herbs!

yeah you got that right.... i wonder what herbs some of those are, though.

What's genziana?

it's a gentian-based liquor, here's a pic i just took of it and the centerba i have:

(you can tell which i like better...)

[Kevin72]

centerba is amazing stuff when you overeat.  you can feel it burning through the food in your stomach, and afterwards you feel a hundred times better.  70% alcohol, though...

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That's why it's called digestivo, huh?

That's the bottle I remember in your pic. Always painful when you get near the end of your edible (or drinkable) souvenirs . . .

[Kevin72]

For July, I'm doing the exotic, aromatic cooking of Sicily.

This is probably the region I've most been looking forward to all year. For such a rabid Italo-phile, I'm ashamed to admit how little cooking experience I have with Sicily, considered one of the very best and most influential regions. I can't really say why, other than I don't have an all-Sicily cookbook to inspire me. In fact I almost want to say it was determining to devote a month to cooking Sicilian food sometime that got me thinking about this yearlong project.

But what I have seen and what I have cooked has always blown me away, and left me wanting more. Unusual, wild ingredients that you'd have never thought go together (eggplant and chocolate? in a cookie???), and it's not just some young punk chef putzing around in a restaurant, this is part of the rooted culinary traditions. Sicily very much marches to its own beat. Hopefully I'll be able to convey some of that this month.

I've already said I don't have an all Sicilian cookbook, but here's what references I'll be using. Mario's last hurrah before Molto Mario ceased production was to do Sicily, and it wound up being one of his best regional treatments. At least once an episode I'd shake my head in awe and the novel (to me) flavor combinations and be chomping at the bit to make them. There's the ubiquitous di Blasi and Culinaria references of course.

Islands in the Sun by Marlena Spieler is a great and unique angle on Italian food. So you get recipes not just from Sicily and Sardegna of course, but Elba, the Aeolian Isles, Pantelleria, Capri, Ischia, and Procida, to name just a few. But Sicily dominates the book and she really captures a feeling of place and cuisine. Highly recommended.

Many Beautiful Things by actor Vincent Schiavelli. It's an autobiographical account of his return to his ancestral hometown in Sicily, Polizzi Generosa, and his reconnecting with long-lost, distant relatives, and new friendships with the people there. And there's recipes to boot!

Sweet Sicily by Victoria Granof is I guess an all Sicilian cookbook, but it focuses on desserts and sweets. Nothing wrong with that as you still get a great understanding of this island and it's culture. She gives a thorough writeup in the beginning of Sicily's history, including a timeline of who ruled it when (in case you get confused ) and what spices, flavors, and techniques each culture brought.

Still, any recommendations for an all-Sicilian cookbook would be most welcome.

Edited July 3, 2005 by Kevin72 (log)

[Kevin72]

Let's build up a Sicilian pantry!

Sicily is certainly no more or less demanding of supplies than any other region, but I plan on exploring a few of the desserts more extensively, especially with Sweet Sicily as a guide, and so I thought it was a good opportunity to make some supplies to have on-hand.

First up: homemade ricotta.

Stunningly easy. Bring 2 gallons of milk and 1 quart cream to 170F, then swirl in some sort of acid--I prefer white wine vinegar as, contrary to what you'd think, it leaves very little flavor, as opposed to lemon juice which does impart the more telltale citrus flavor. This acid will then break the milk and cause it to curdle. Leave it to sit for an hour or so, then pour through a sieve lined with cheesecloth (THAT's how they got that name!). In Sicily, their ricotta is sheep's milk, which has a slightly different, more tart flavor. You can get Chatham Farm's sheep's milk ricotta, but at $8 for 2 cups' worth, I figured I'd just try to replicate it by also stirring in some sheep's milk feta, a favorite cheese of mine.

Next, some digestivi. These of course not unique to Sicily or even Italy, but it seems that once you get into the Southern parts, these sweetened liquors play a much more dominant part. I used to make these regularly, but damned jobs and adult responsibilities got in the way and now they're more a once-a-year thing, usually done at Christmas. But researching Sicily got my interest fired back up again, so I gave it a spin.

Recipe: soak some sort of aromatic, be it a citrus peel, an herb, or a spice, in neutral grain alcohol. Lots of recipes call for vodka but I pull out the big guns and use Everclear (95% ABV). And yes, I usually have to explain myself to the cashier when I buy it, normally the stuff of college frat parties about to go horribly awry. But here's why you use it: 1 cup gets diluted with 2 cups of simple syrup. So one $18 bottle of Everclear can feasibly get you three bottles of Limoncello, normally around $25 apiece.

At any rate, here's four separate batches "stewing".

Left to right: toasted almond, coffee and cinnamon (rasoliu i' cafe e canedda), lemon (limoncinu), and anise (finucchiedu or zammu). The anise one is a mixture of star anise, regular anise, fennel seed, and cardomom. Length of times for them to soak vary; I've seen some authors say you need as little as two days, and I usually go a month, but this time I started late and am only going a week, then diluting them with the syrup and bottling them. Hopefully it'll be enough for the flavor to come through.

Candied squash: normally the Sicilians use the outrageously long and vaguely vulgar cucuzza squash to make this, but I used some acorn squash. Simmer in heavily sugared (3:1) syrup until the squash is translucent. Used in a variety of pastry fillings and decorations.

Sesame bread: this is a semolina bread that curled in on itself and then covered with sesame seeds. To give it a more distinctive flavor, I use the non-Sicilian touch of sesame oil in the dough.

The oregano in my herb patch it out of control and has been flowering now for over a month. I trimmed it back and dried some with the flowers intact to sprinkle over dishes.

Two Siclian pantry items I won't have access to:

Malvasia, a sweetened Sicilian (white?) wine. Dallas is really funky about its liquor laws and so only items with a certain ABV limit can be sold as "wine". I suspect, as a dessert wine, Malvasia has a higher alcohol content which would then limit its sale here. This is only in theory, but I've been looking at my usual sources so far and have turned up nothing, and I had similar results when I went looking for other dessert wines before.

Bottarga, the cured and pressed tuna roe. Not available, and while I'm sure I could readily order it online, I suspect it's prohibitively expensive.

[Kevin72]

I can't even make it through my first meal in Sicily without branching out and experimenting in some probably less-Sicilian ways, but here it goes.

Started last night off with what I call a "Palermo", a Manhattan made with Marsala instead of sweet vermouth. I also pan-toasted some nuts (almonds, pistachios, and pine nuts) then tossed them, still warm, with Spanish smoked paprika. Here's my internal dialogue when I decided to do this appetizer: "Umm, the Spanish ruled Sicily for a while, right? So this is Sicilian then!"

Next up is the Sicilian heavyweight, pasta con le sarde.

Last month when I was cooking from Abruzzo, every time I went to the store they had a nice mound of glistening, fresh sardines in the fish case. I knew Sicily and its many great uses of sardine dishes was coming up, so I got excited about getting to use them. Naturally, I go shopping yesterday to both branches of this store (Central Market) and they're nowhere to be found. Fortunately most recpies I've seen are pretty forgiving about using canned sardines, which I was able to find. They didn't hold their integrity the way fresh sardines do, but left a great, pungent counterpoint to the sweet caramelized fennel and the spicy kick of chilies. Also in the dish were the ever-present pine nuts and raisins for added sweetness, and saffron. I wonder how big a topic of debate it is on whether or not to use tomatoes in the dish. I've not seen it referenced that this is something up for heated debate, but my cookbooks are almost evenly split on tomatoes or tomato-less versions. I opted not to include tomatoes since I thought they would mask the flavor and color of the saffron. This dish is sooo multilayered and complex; everything great about Sicilian cooking almost in one dish. Here's a glimpse of the old boards that Food Network had up: when Mario did this dish on his show, some twit came blaring onto the boards about how Mario didn't know anything about Sicilian cooking, "'cause my grandmother's Sicilian, and she never made that crap!"

Another branch-out and experimentation for the main. I crusted yellowfin and ahi tuna steaks with ground coriander and star anise, then seared them on the grill. Served them with a pan-seared "relish" of olives, orange, and chilies.

The rare tuna and spices used in the crust are probably non-Sicilian (though again I justified it mentally by theorizing that the spices *could* be found in North African cuisine). I know Italian tradition is to eat fish cooked through or of course completely raw, not in-between like this, but I can't see how completely cooked through tuna isn't dry and flavorless. This also flies in the face of the "Popular Restaurant Menu Items You Despise" thread currently going on elsewhere on eG, where a number of people weigh in on the preponderance of crusted seared tuna steaks.

Dessert was hopefully the first of many, many gelati this month, pistachio.

[Chufi]

I'm so excited that you're doing Sicily this month! Coincidentally, for some strange reason, I'm really into southern Italian cooking at the moment .. looking forward to getting inspiration from you!

First up: homemade ricotta.

Stunningly easy. Bring 2 gallons of milk and 1 quart cream to 170F, then swirl in some sort of acid--I prefer white wine vinegar as, contrary to what you'd think, it leaves very little flavor, as opposed to lemon juice which does impart the more telltale citrus flavor. This acid will then break the milk and cause it to curdle.  Leave it to sit for an hour or so, then pour through a sieve lined with cheesecloth (THAT's how they got that name!).  In Sicily, their ricotta is sheep's milk, which has a slightly different, more tart flavor.  You can get Chatham Farm's sheep's milk ricotta, but at $8 for 2 cups' worth, I figured I'd just try to replicate it by also stirring in some sheep's milk feta, a favorite cheese of mine. 

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that really does look easy. Do you think I could use part goatsmilk (available in my supermarket) to get a more goaty/sheepy taste? How much acid do you use to that amount of milk/cream?

And another question - how long does the ricotta keep after the straining, and how do you store it?

Edited July 3, 2005 by Chufi (log)

[Kevin72]

that really does look easy. Do you think I could use part goatsmilk (available in my supermarket) to get  a more goaty/sheepy taste? How much acid do you use to that amount of milk/cream?

And another question - how long does the ricotta keep after the straining, and how do you store it?

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That's a good question and something I've wondered myself. My wife hates goat cheese though (unlike the lamb, this point is non-debatable) so I've not taken the opportunity to experiment. Can't see why not, unless there's some sort of treatment in there that prevents it.

2-3 tablespoons acid, depending on strength, should be a good start. You'll immediately notice a difference. Bring it back to a simmer after you stir it in. If it's not breaking enough, another tablespoon will do it.

Yeah, now I'm beginning to worry how long the ricotta will keep, myself, after making such a huge batch.

[M. Lucia]

Oh, Sicily. I love those Arab and mediterranean influences. Will you be doing couscous? And I do hope there will be cuccia.

Who knew ricotta was so easy? I'm inspired.

[ludja]

...

Yeah, now I'm beginning to worry how long the ricotta will keep, myself, after making such a huge batch.

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Time to make cannoli, cassata, cheesecake...

The pasta con le sarde looks and sounds delicious. I am definately going to try this myself. Thank you!

[kellytree]

Ok, to be a nitpick - that isnt really ricotta. .... although it can be used as a ricotta substitute.

Ricotta is made with whey (the liquid left over after you make cheese).

- You have to strain the whey to get all the leftover curds out

- add a cup of milk (optional - this is just a little trick to get more ricotta)

- give it a good stir

- bring it almost to a boil ( a light gentle almost just a touch of a boil??...) - do not mix it or touch it or do anything- If you mix touch or move it the ricotta will be broken.

- when the whey almost comes to a boil the ricotta will float to the surface-

- shut off the burner

- let sit for a couple minutes

- scoop out the ricotta (which is all at the surface ) very carefully --- just skim off the top - don't get frugal and try to get all the bits that underneath - those bits are usually cheese.

- drain and its done.

It will keep for a few days in the fridge.

Sheeps milk is the best because with less whey you get more ricotta - then cow and finally goat (which personally I wouldnt waste my time with - its more expensive, you need a hellavu lot of goat milk way to make one puny ricotta and sometimes it comes out really tasting like a goat barn.)

[Kevin72]

Ok, to be a nitpick - that isnt really ricotta. .... although it can be used as a ricotta substitute.

Ricotta is made with whey (the liquid left over after you make cheese) . . .

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Whoops! Didn't know that. Err, it's okay if I stick to this method, right?

[Kevin72]

Oh, Sicily. I love those Arab and mediterranean influences. Will you be doing couscous? And I do hope there will be cuccia.

Who knew ricotta was so easy? I'm inspired.

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Couscous is on tap at some point. I'm struggling to recall what cuccia is.

[kellytree]

Of course it's ok - your the boss in your kitchen!!

Its a fine substitute for the real thing - very easy and it works.

[Chufi]

When I was at the market today I spotted fresh sardines, thought of you and this thread, and immediately changed my dinner plans and decided to make pasta con le sarde!

I have to admit I had never made this before and never even tasted it. I used a combination of Marcalla Hazan's and Anna del Conte's recipe (Marcella's method, and Anna's ingredients). It turned out pretty good! (There's a pic of it in the Dinner thread)

[Ore]

Ciao Kevin...as for Cuccia - don't really know what that is but I do recall rabbit being reffered to as Cuccio...hmmm

Keep cooking!

Ore

[Kevin72]

When I was at the market today I spotted fresh sardines, thought of you and this thread, and immediately changed my dinner plans and decided to make pasta con le sarde!

I have to admit I had never made this before and never even tasted it. I used a combination of Marcalla Hazan's and Anna del Conte's recipe (Marcella's method, and Anna's ingredients). It turned out pretty good! (There's a pic of it in the Dinner thread)

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Hey, thanks for the shout-out on the Dinner thread!

Glad you liked the pasta con le sarde. This was only my second time to ever make it and both times it really went over well. I always forget just how layered the flavors are and how well they go together. Needs to become a summer staple, I think.

Sorry I missed your blog way back when, just noticed it in your sig last night and went through the thread. Great stuff in there, like how you do a little globetrotting with each meal! And I loved including the music choices in each meal!